The Box - Marc Levinson [160]
24. Pan-Atlantic gave up the idea of building roll on-roll off ships by late 1956, supposedly to save money on construction costs and to gain greater flexibility. See “Pan Atlantic Changes Plans for Roll-On Ships,” Marine Engineering/Log (December 1956), p. 112.
25. Much of this section is drawn from Tantlinger, “U.S. Containerization”; author’s telephone interview with Keith Tantlinger, December 1, 1992; and author’s interview with Keith Tantlinger, San Diego, January 3, 1993. These containers were designed for Ocean Van Lines and carried, 36 to a barge, by Alaska Freight Lines between Seattle, Anchorage, and Seward. They are distinct from the much smaller steel “Cargo Guard” boxes first used by Alaska Steamship Company in 1953 and the 12-foot wooden “crib boxes” that Alaska Steamship carried aboard the Susitna, which some identify as the first containership. See Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton, Shoreside Facilities for Trailership, Trainship, and Container-ship Services (Washington, DC, 1956), p. 45; McDonald, “Alaska Steam,” p. 112; and Burke, A History of the Port of Seattle, p. 115.
26. Tantlinger, “U.S. Containerization”; author’s interview with Keith Tantlinger, January 3, 1993; author’s telephone interview with Earl Hall, May 14, 1993.
27. The spreader bar is covered by U.S. Patent 2,946,617, issued July 26, 1960.
28. Information about delays taken from Tantlinger interview, and the announcement of the start date is in “Tank Vessels Begin Trailer Runs in April,” JOC, February 19, 1956. Houston comment is cited in Marc Felice, “The Pioneer,” article appearing in program for the AOTOS Award 1984. For cost figures, see Pierre Bonnot, “Prospective Study of Unit Loads,” Containers, no. 36 (December 1956): 25–29.
29. Pan-Atlantic Steamship Corporation, “Summary of Operations.”
30. “ICC Aide Urges Waterman Sale,” NYT, November 28, 1956, p. 70; ICC, McLean Trucking Company and Pan-Atlantic Steamship Corporation—Investigation of Control.
31. Borruey, Le port de Marseille, p. 296. Fitzgerald, “A History of Containerization,” p. 2. For photos of Seatrain’s vessels on trial in 1928, see Fairplay, June 17, 1976, p. 15.
32. Cangardel, “The Present Development of the Maritime Container.”
Chapter 4
The System
1. Author’s telephone interview with Robert N. Campbell, June 25, 1993.
2. Tantlinger, “U.S. Containerization”; Cushing, “The Development of Cargo Ships.”
3. The containers, chassis, refrigerated units, and twist locks all are covered by patent 3,085,707, issued after much delay on April 16, 1963.
4. Campbell interview; Tantlinger, “U.S. Containerization.” Skagit Steel and Iron was closed in the early 1990s, and most of the company’s records were destroyed.
5. Marine Engineering/Log (November 1955), p. 104; Tantlinger, “U.S. Containerization”; PNYA, Minutes of Committee on Operations, February 2, 1956, Meyner Papers, Box 44; Paul F. Van Wicklen, “New York—The Port That Gave Containerization Its Oomph” in Containerization and Intermodal Institute, “Containerization: The First 25 Years” (New York, 1981); “Tanker to Carry 2-Way Loads,” NYT, April 27, 1956. The conversion of the C-2s is discussed in “Full-Scale Container Ship Proves Itself,” Marine Engineering/Log (December 1957), p. 67, and in author’s telephone interview with Robert N. Campbell, June 25, 1993. Bonner quotation appears in McLean Industries, Annual Report, 1957, p. 8.
6. McLean Industries, Annual Report, 1957 and 1958.
7. McLean Industries, Annual Report, 1958; Campbell interview.
8. Author’s telephone interview with Earl Hall, October 2, 1992; author’s telephone interview with William Hubbard, July 1, 1993; author’s interview with Charles Cushing, New York,